Page 146 of Awaiting

“They are presently occupied with her new restaurant,” Ingrid replied. “It opens soon, so I doubt she’ll want to get away.”

“If she’s ever going to get away, it should be now,” Alex reasoned. “Once it’s open, she’ll be there all the time, right? She should take advantage of the time off while she can.”

“I wish she saw it that way,” Ingrid replied, laughing. “But she’s stubborn.”

Elin leaned into her wife’s body and said, “I think it’s genetic.”

“Hey!” Ingrid exclaimed.

“Congrats, Nora,” Palmer said when Alice and Nora walked over, with Nora dressed in full uniform and Alice in a formal dress.

“Thank you,” she replied.

“She deserves it,” Alice said.

“Well, I suppose we should tell you all the news now,” Nora replied, taking Alice’s hand. “I’ll be formally retiring from the Royal Guard Service at the end of this year.”

“What?” Alex asked. “You just got your promotion,” she added, placing her hand on the small of Bexley’s back just because she could.

“I know. That’s always been the plan,” Nora replied. “I wanted to retire a colonel. That was my dream. I’ll stay on until the end of the year, and then that’ll be it.”

“Tell them why, babe,” Alice encouraged, resting her head on Nora’s shoulder.

“Well, Alice and I are…”

“No…” Bexley cupped her mouth.

“We wanted one more,” Alice revealed, smiling. “I’m three months along. That’s why this dress isn’t form-fitting – I’m starting to show.”

“You’re pregnant?” Alex asked.

“I thought you two said you were done,” Bexley added.

“We were, but we changed our minds.” Alice shrugged. “And no, we’re pretty sure it’s not twins this time.”

“Triplets?” Palmer joked.

“No, just the one,” Nora replied. “I love the military, but I love my family more. I work late so often, and there’s travel without Alice and the kids. I’m just ready to be with them and work alongside my wife. I want to spend more time with Tor and Julia. They’re only going to be this little once. I’ll still be involved in things, but differently.”

“That’s great, Nora,” Alex said. “Congratulations, you two.”

“Thank you,” Nora replied.

“Do you know what you’re having yet?” Bexley asked, hugging Alice.

“No, we don’t even know if we’re going to find out this time. Last time, with the twins, things were different. Now, we think we might wait. I’m also older now, so we need to be extra careful. Nora was the crazed supportive partner last time, so I can’t imagine how she’s going to bethistime now that it’s been a few years.”

Nora just nodded and gave a shrug that told Alex she planned to ensure her wife was taken care of and kept safe and comfortable during her pregnancy.

“You okay?” Bexley checked.

“Yes. Why?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know. You just looked a little sad,” she replied, cupping Alex’s cheek.

“No, I’m happy for them.”

And she was. She was so happy for her friends and their family. She just wanted one of her own. As she watched her friends all congratulate the couple on Nora’s promotion and their new addition, she thought about how she’d felt holding her nephews and niece in her arms. She was ready now. She’d been ready for a while, in fact, but for them to take that step, they had to take another one first. Archaic as it was, they had to be married before they could have a child together.